October 16, 2008--One galaxy tears a tendril of dusty gas from another during a recently spotted cosmic collision from some 12 billion years ago.

This artist's interpretation captures a moment just two billion years after the Big Bang.

Each of two galaxies is anchored by an enormous black hole. The find suggests black holes were common even during the early days of galactic formation.

This surprise galactic pairing was discovered with the radio antennas of Hawaii's Submillimeter Array.